The pronounced green colour of the Verdon is not what gave it its name, as one would like to believe (green is “vert” in French). Verdon actually comes from ‘vardu’ used in Gaulish times, itself derived from the pre-Celtic ‘vara’, or water. The ever changing and striking green colour of the river, sometimes an emerald shade, sometimes turquoise-coloured, is due to the fluorine and micro-algae contained in the river, and the clayey bottoms of its numerous dam lakes.